Kalyan Station congestion may get unclogged

Congestion at Kalyan railway station has been a nuisance for more than 2 lakh commuters who pour in to board a train every day. One of the most crowded stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the junction witnesses numerous local and long-distance trains pulling in and out of its platforms. There's a lot of room for improvement with lack of cleanliness being another issue. On September 1, DK Sharma, the General Manager of Central Railway, inspected the station along with other officials.

Sources said that Sharma has asked for a solution to congestion nuisance. "The General Manager has ordered to decongest the platforms 4-5 and immediately and shift offices to other location so that it is easy for commuters," said Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO, Central Railway.

The platforms had food stalls and offices of ticket checkers and the Railway Police. These will now be shifted to another location on the station premises. Sharma also inspected the 12-meter long foot over bridge (FOB) and instructed completion of two escalators and one lift on the west side of the station and one lift on the east side before mid-September.

Kalyan station remodelling project under which is also underway. Under MUTP-3A, the rail authorities have planned the addition of lines towards Karjat and Kasara so that long distance and local trains can be segregated.

He also inspected Kalyan and Titwala railway station for the passenger amenities like toilets, FOBs, water vending machines and overall cleanliness of station. This comes at a time when the cleanliness rating of Kalyan station has dropped to 74 this year from 63 last year and 27 in 2016 as per the rating given by Quality Control of India.

"Safety of passengers is a big issue, especially at Kalyan. Recently a gang of robbers was caught who entered long-distance trains from Kalyan as fruit vendors," said A Bose, resident of Kalyan. At Titwala, the work of two additional FOBs was also inspected.

GM'S ORDERS

The General Manager has ordered to decongest the platforms 4-5 and immediately and shift offices to other location. He instructed completion of two escalators and two lifts in the station before mid-September